Greg Peters

KINGSPORT — The Dobyns-Bennett Indians held their collective breath Thursday evening when they escaped with a last-second win over Big 7 Conference rival Tennessee High.

Friday evening at the Buck Van Huss Dome, things were a little easier for the Tribe, which cruised to a 94-43 league win over Sullivan Central that moved D-B to the top of the Big 7 standings.

“We didn’t start out well, but then we picked it up,” said D-B coach Charlie Morgan. “Playing back-to-back games I wasn’t sure how we would handle it.

Central (3-23, 0-10) held its own for the first quarter, trailing only 19-13. From there, however, it was all Indians. The Tribe opened up the second quarter by scoring eight straight points in the first minute, part of an 18-6 run.

By halftime, the lead had grown to 22 with D-B (15-8, 9-2) leading 47-25.

Makale Foreman finished with 21 points. He nailed six 3-point shots — with the other three points coming on free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt.

Matt Halvorsen followed with 17 points and Paul Gadson added 14. John Fulkerson had 11 points, including three dunks.

Lucas Parker led Central with a game-high 22 points.

The victory was the ninth in a row for the Indians.

In the night’s opener, the Lady Cougars had no answer for D-B’s Alex Anderson and Sasha Morrisette, who combined for 41 points while leading D-B (16-8, 6-6) to a 66-42 win.

Cortney Depew made it a trio in double figures for the Tribe, tossing in 16 points.

Sydney Norwood led Central (4-20, 1-10) with 14 points.

For an expanded version of this article, please see Saturday's print edition or our electronic edition.